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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend April 18, 2006 County braces for subsidy loss; curbs spending By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Uncertain that federal timber subsidies will continue past this year, Jackson County officials plan to keep a tight rein on spending and tuck additional money into a rainy-day fund, the county’s proposed budget shows. "This is a budget that doesn’t start any new programs," said Sue Slack, county administrator. The $286.2 million proposed budget includes $108.1 million in general fund spending, as well as funds for debt-service, roads and other special use funds. The total recommended budget is down slightly from this year’s revised budget of $286.8 million, but is expected to increase as costs from ongoing public works projects are carried forward. The proposed general fund budget is up 4.5 percent from $103.4 million this year. Hearings on the proposed budget start at 9 a.m. today and continue Thursday. Advertisement The proposal has a strong focus on savings and includes only spending that can be linked to nearly guaranteed revenue, Slack said in her written budget message. She noted that the county has known that federal money provided to replace timber revenues was set to expire after this year and officials have worked to build a reserve. "We’ve been trying to build a rainy-day fund whenever we have a one-time revenue," Slack said. That savings account has grown from $6.7 million set aside in fiscal year 2003-04 to roughly $21.5 million this year. The proposed budget would increase it to about $24 million, thanks to careful spending by county department directors and the sale of surplus property in the South Gateway shopping center obtained for a road project. The property sold for $1.68 million, which was all put in the rainy-day fund, the budget message said. In addition to that reserve, the county maintains a contingency fund and a cash balance to meet payroll and other ongoing expenses. Those savings reserves and transfers to other funds drop total general fund spending to about $66.2 million, compared with $64.5 million last year. In her budget message, Slack stressed that the proposal sought to have no ongoing expenditures that couldn’t be sustained by ongoing revenue. The only expansion in the budget is the addition of two appraisers and an office assistant in the assessor’s office, who would be hired to increase property tax revenue. The hiring was recommended in audits done by the county and the state. The state has directed the county to begin using a "recalculation" method to value property for tax purposes, the budget message said. This method should increase tax revenues to all taxing districts (except schools, which use a different formula) as long as the economy remains strong, the message said. Slack wrote that she and the county assessor will monitor the effort closely and if revenue doesn’t increase, the matter will be brought to the budget committee again next year. The fate of the federal timber subsidies, which provide about $23 million annually to Jackson County, might not be known until the end of the federal fiscal year in September, Slack said. Therefore, she recommended that the budget committee meet again in the fall when new information becomes available. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail County braces for subsidy loss; curbs spending ">[email protected] . Jackson County officials will discuss the proposed county budget in a series of public meetings this week. All the meetings are at the Jackson County Courthouse Auditorium, 10 S. Oakdale Ave., Medford. Budget hearings open at 9 a.m. today and continue through 5 p.m. The sheriff’s department presents at 1 p.m. and the library at 3:20 p.m. Comment periods start at 11 a.m., 2:20 p.m. and 4:20 p.m. The elected officials’ salary review will be at 11:30 a.m. today. Hearings continue from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The roads and parks department presents at 10:30 a.m. and health and human services presents at 12:40 p.m. Comment periods are at 9:55 a.m., 11:15 a.m. and 1:10 p.m. Budget committee deliberations start at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. If needed, deliberations will continue Friday at a time to be announced. Hearings and deliberations will be broadcast on government access Channel 30. The county’s recommended budget is available online at www.co.jackson.or.us . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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